Kent is one of the most popular destinations in northeast Ohio. Our unique shops, entertainment venues, and eateries play a big part in that draw — but the real star of the show is the diverse mix of people that share our hometown with us.

The downtown has turned out to be a great way to showcase Kent as the global village that it is. Which is why the national debate over immigration laws and sanctuary cities has been so troubling. Where Kent has worked so hard to pull people together, the national debate seems intent upon pulling people apart.

The debate has led Council to try to understand exactly what it means to be a “sanctuary city” — and more importantly to evaluate what impact a “sanctuary city” designation would have on people’s lives in Kent.

It’s been clear from Council’s remarks that they are most concerned about what they can do to improve the lives of people in Kent on a daily basis, rather than worrying about adopting the label of a sanctuary city which may or may not have any meaningful impact beyond choosing a side on a politically polarizing national issue.

I admire City Council’s patience as they try to sort through the inflammatory nature of this issue with a conscious decision to keep the focus on people rather than politics. If it turns out that adopting a sanctuary city designation is important to the Kent community, I’m sure Council will step up, but in the meantime they have chosen to put people first by announcing the One Kent initiative which has the potential to be far more impactful for the Kent community than anything we’ve done in generations.

In April Council released an Open Letter to the Kent community re-affirming their commitment to tolerance and support for everyone that calls Kent home. The statements made in that letter were intended to clearly demonstrate Council’s unwavering support for tolerance regardless of what the future may hold for the political label of a “sanctuary city.”

April 14, 2017

OPEN LETTER: No place for intolerance in public policy

Over the course of the last year the Mayor and Members of the Kent City Council have watched with growing concern as the debate over immigration law has at times sounded like a call for a nationally sanctioned intolerance policy in the name of public safety.

As a City Council, we feel compelled to make a strong public statement against intolerance and argue that public safety in our community has always been stronger when we stand united, not divided.

Public safety is paramount to the City of Kent’s mission to protect and serve all equally — and never at the expense of the rights and liberties of people that may not fit a particular profile for what they look like, what they believe, or where they’re from.

Throughout history intolerance has proven to be bad public policy and a prescription for failure. The Kent community endured a tragedy in 1970 to learn that lesson and we will not let that lesson be forgotten.

This emotionally charged issue has become a flashpoint, testing the very foundation of what it means to be a community. As a Council we recognize our differences as our most valued and vital attributes. Kent’s strong sense of community is because of our differences, not in spite of them.

Many faces, names and cultures have shaped Kent through the years, making the community stronger and more resilient thanks to a diverse population that contributes its own customized blend of skills, insights and experiences to meet the endless challenges of serving the public good.

Our ability to rise to the next challenge is rooted in a belief that whatever we do, we do it better when we do it together. Kent has relied on talented people from all walks of life to step up to support their community, and as Kent’s leadership we’re proud to take our turn now to rally the community behind our people.

As home to Kent State University, the small town of Kent Ohio is blessed with an abundant mix of people. Kent’s story is about people living, learning, connecting and growing together, celebrating their differences with enthusiasm, secure in their shared sense of community.

Not everyone can speak all of the languages heard in Kent but shared space is a great teacher, revealing the universality of a smile, a wave, a nod of appreciation, or a laugh. We have shared personal moments that needed no translation, and we’ve seen personal connections lead strangers to become neighbors, and neighbors to form a community.

From its early pioneer days to May 4, 1970, and into 2017 with a growing international population, Kent has been a small community with a big impact. Whether it’s changing the course of a war or working to change the world, Kent has a reputation as a place that makes a difference. The difference maker in Kent has always been its people. That will never change.

Sincerely,

Jerry T. Fiala, Mayor & President of Council Garret Ferrara, Council Member, Ward 1 Michael DeLeone, Council Member at Large Jack Amrhein, Council Member, Ward 2 Melissa Long, Council Member at Large Robin Turner, Council Member, Ward 3 Roger Sidoti, Council Member at Large John M. Kuhar, Council Member, Ward 4 Heidi L. Shaffer, Council Member, Ward 5 Tracy Wallach, Council Member, Ward 6

A couple of years ago it was announced that the Silver Meadows Apartments on the west end of town had been acquired by a new owner who was hoping to secure tax credit assistance to make some substantial reinvestments in the property.

The apartment complex has begun to show it’s age and it serves a critical need for low income housing options in Kent, so this was very encouraging news.

The new ownership group spent time with us outlining their vision and they spent a couple of hundred thousand of their own funds immediately to address some of the most pressing problems on the property but we’ve been waiting to hear if they secured their multi-million dollar financing package.

Great news, we just heard that they got their funding so that reinvestment project should move forward this year.

Here’s the details:

The Villages at Franklin Crossings, formerly called Silver Meadows Apartments, was acquired by the developer Millenia Housing Development, Ltd. , in 2015 with its affiliate, Franklin Crossing Ohio Investment, LLC, acting as the project’s General Partner. Millenia is an affordable housing developer that has a focus acquiring and redeveloping existing affordable housing complexes that may be in need of significant renovations and improvements.

The Villages at Franklin Crossings is an existing residential development comprised of 37 apartment buildings, with a total of 444 housing units available for rent. The apartment complex primarily provides affordable housing for low-to-moderate income households. Currently, about 52% of the units receive project-based housing voucher rental assistance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development (HUD).

The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) allocated Millenia funds in 2016 to be used for the needed renovations of kitchens, bathrooms and mechanical systems in approximately 348 of the 444 units. Proposed renovations will also include improvements and needed upgrades in the common areas (stairways,halls, lobby), building laundry rooms, installation of a new security system for the entire site, exterior work (roof repair, gutters, windows, etc.), installation of front entry canopies, and dumpster enclosures.

The era of flush capital budgets is long gone, so Kent State University is working hard to be as strategic and impactful with their facility investments as possible.

They’ve hired a professional planning firm to help them scope out their investment needs and opportunities, and package that in an updated University Master Facilities Plan.

A critical piece of data in this exercise is input from University stakeholders — including students, faculty, staff, and the voices of the surrounding community.

To that end, the staff from Kent State’s Architect’s Office asked me to help spread the word that they will be hosting a public input session next week, April 12th from 6:30 to 8 pm in the Alumni building on Lincoln Street, to solicit ideas from the public about future Kent State University facility investments both on and off campus.

Our City staff we’re invited to an input session this morning (April 7th), and Kent State is hoping to get input from Council and the community at the public meeting next week so if you can spare the time, please go.

Here’s the details from Kent State:

As the “Foundations of Excellence: Building the Future” campus improvement projects draw to a close this year, Kent State University is beginning a comprehensive facilities master planning process to identify its next campus priorities. The facilities master plan will guide the alignment of university resources and capital investments with the objectives set forth in the university’s strategic roadmap. The process will take about a year to complete.

As this process begins, input from Kent City residents is an important step. The university wants to consider ideas from all stakeholders as it determines its facility priorities for the future.

Kent State is hosting a facilities master plan information session for members of the Kent area community. The session will be held Wednesday, April 12, from 6:30-8 p.m. in Room 103 of the Center for Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement, located at 350 S. Lincoln Street.

In theory, a mild winter means a lot less snow plowing, salting and shoveling — which is certainly good news for City crews.

However, there’s a cost that comes with temperatures that bounce around the freezing mark — a rash of extra potholes and water line breaks — and that’s bad news.

This has been one of those winters — kind to the snow budget, but a “perfect storm” for water line breaks and potholes in the street.

Unfortunately we’ve had our fair share of both.

City crews are working hard to keep up but the conditions are working against them, particularly for potholes which can double in size and quantity over night if there’s a hard enough freeze following all this rain.

Regrettably, the best we can do at this time of year is back-fill the holes with temporary cold patch material and hope it holds us over until the hot mix asphalt season returns.

We recognize the safety concerns and the potential damage from hitting potholes, which is why we’ll keep working until we catch up, or winter returns and sends the crews back into the plow trucks like the good old days of 2014.

I know that the most wonderful time of the year is officially over as soon I get that note from our Budget and Finance Director saying that it’s now a less wonderful time of year when we ask the Regional Income Tax Authority (RITA) to mail out letters to the taxpayers that we have on file who appear to have neglected to file municipal income taxes with us for 2015.

I’m sure it’s a simple oversight and the City and RITA staff work hard to help make it as easy and pain-free as possible for procrastinators to catch-up and pay their 2015 share along with the rest of us.

It turns out that in order to wrap-up the 2015 tax cycle, RITA is sending out 6, 677 letters to non-filers reminding them of the importance of following the law and filing their taxes in Kent.

There’s always a certain percentage of those cases that can be cleared up quickly with a phone call and a fax but there others that could eventually be issued a subpoena and be taken to court.

Usually the fastest way to resolve these mis-understandings is directly with RITA using the contacts listed below but if residents need additional help the Kent City Finance Department can provide guidance as well. They are located at 930 Overholt Road or can be reached by phone at 330 678-8102.